Mass Effect: Shika
by Lialee
Summary: Shikara finds herself trapped on the Normandy. Greeted not so warmly by the crew members, she has to find a way to convince them to let her live. Some are more accomodating than others, can she survive?
1. Chapter 1: Um Hi?

Hello, Ironhide's Sparkling here. It was pointed out to me by a few friends that my introduction was fairly… childish. So I deleted my original opening and have replaced it with what you are reading now. I also made a few minor changes to the text. Thank you and I would greatly appreciate feedback. 

Shika was in her room at the KND tree-house. Despite her age they still let her stay because she was loyal to the children. That, and to them she was their giant puppy dog.

Shika was walking around her room, stretching her legs after a long nap. Her vision blacked out from standing up too quickly. After recovering her vision, she began to walk towards her door, growling stomach getting the better of her. Exiting the room, Shika tripped over something and instead of landing on the anticipated carpeted floors of her room inside the tree-house, she landed on the cold, hard floors of a spaceship. Her arrival was announced by a female voice that echoed through-out the entire structure.

She grimaced. "Crap…" Standing up, Shika realized she was still in her pajamas and transmuted them into more casual attire being a T-shirt and jeans, glad that this world hadn't stripped her of that ability. She could also hear gears shifting and whirring inside her and she breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, now that she had found the body she was born in, going to new universes didn't take her normal -well, if you can call that normal- self away from her. _Meaning I can contact Dad and make sure he doesn't blow up the base. _She listened as she heard footsteps approaching her and put her hands above her head in a relaxed position, _well, not right now obviously… _

Shika's eyes widened as a bulky lizard-like man rounded the corner, followed by a woman covered head to toe in armor, not an inch of skin showing. Shika was expecting some hammerhead-shark head shaped dude to follow them but that idea was put to shame as a normal human male appeared after them dressed in black and red armor with an N7 on it. The moment they saw her, the lizard dude started to shoot, soon followed by the others, but not after saying, "Well this is pathetic, I was expecting more of a challenge." in a low, gruff and annoyed voice.

Shika held back, avoiding bullets that zoomed past her, not sure that if she transformed if it would freak them out or not, but reacted the way she normally would if she didn't have cannons hidden away inside her. "Shit! You didn't even say anything to me! You just started shooting!" She watched as the lizard switched to something that looked like a futuristic machine gun and rolled her eyes. "Just stop shooting!" A round of bullets flew at her arms and head which were easily dodged by ducking, she quickly ran to the lizard and alchemically decapitated the weapon and through it out of immediate reach. "I don't want to fight you if I don't have to."

The human and armored girl aimed their guns at her head and Shika slowly raised her hands above her head. It would be kind of weird if they shot her straight through her 'brain' and she survived. The human nodded at the lizard to grab his gun and he analyzed the offline weapon, "What the hell?"

Shika let a small smile creep on to her face, "It was the strongest one I saw. I can fix it later if you guys don't try and kill me first."

Lizard, as we are now going to call him until we learn his real name, looked at her with irritated eyes and the other two with astonishment. The human used his head to gesture towards the gun, "How'd you do that?"

The grin grew wider, "Lotsa practice. Now are you going to talk to me and lower your guns or are we all gonna start shooting again. And this time I won't hold back."

Lizard grunted, "Like we're gonna do that ya little intruder. And I don't see any weapons on your person, how are you going to-"

Shika revealed one of her Cybertronian arms, and then switched it to her cannon. "I have two of these. And I didn't inherit my trigger-happiness from my mother." She put the cannon away. "Now like I said, I'd rather not fight right now." A growl erupted from her stomach and she winced. Not necessarily the best timing.

Luckily they didn't hear it.

Shika watched as the human lowered his gun cautiously. "I am Commander Sheppard. Now what are you doing on my ship."

Shika shrugged. "No idea."

Lizard lost his patience. "Look, Earthling! We are not here to play games!"

She glared at him. "I'm from Cybertron, you Jackass."

Lizard attempted to hit her but was stopped by Sheppard. "Grunt!" Grunt backed away slowly, not enjoying Shika's presence very much. "Now back to my previous question, why are you on my ship?"

"Like I said, I have no idea why I'm here just that I'm here."

Sheppard looked at her with a disbelieving face. His tone matched his expression. "Really?"

"Yup. Hey, can I put my arms down now? I think it's been established that I'm not going to shoot anyone."

He thought about this for a moment. "Fine." He said slowly and reluctantly. She lowered her hands and rolled her shoulders, getting the kinks out. "Next question, how did you board my ship? We would have noticed you if you got on earlier. That and we are currently in the middle of open space and you have no armor."

Not that she needed it for space travel. "I tripped."

"You, 'tripped'." He scoffed.

Shika shrugged again. "Not the easiest topic to explain. I'm going to have enough trouble trying to explain how I did that," she pointed to the malformed figure in Grunt's hand. "to your friend's gun or how I turned my arm into that cannon."

The armored girl stepped forward. "Sheppard?"

Sheppard nodded, and then said in an authoritarian tone, "Go ahead, Tali."

She looked at Shika. "You said you are from Cybertron. That planet is not anywhere in our Databases. How can you be from a planet that doesn't exist?"

Shikara took a long breath before answering, "Let's just say that there is more than one 'universe'. And before you ask any more questions, please know that the majority of your question's revolving around my answers cannot be answered in one sitting and that unless it is too difficult to explain I will answer them all. But currently I have one question of my own. What are you going to do with me?"

Sheppard looked to Tali and Grunt who responded with Tali, "I say we keep her and learn more about what she can do. That and she seems nice enough." And Grunt, "I say we throw her out into space." that of which received a full blown glare from Tali and Shika.

Sheppard sighed. "Well as we can't come to an agreement, I guess we will just have to take her back to the briefing."

XXX(at the briefing)XXX

It had been quiet since Sheppard left, everyone was waiting for his return and no one dared to start talking on his or own to the rest of the group. That was Sheppard's job.

AdI broke the silence with, "Well that was unexpected…"

The Salarian spoke up. "What?"

"Sheppard has decided to bring the intruder here."

Miranda became infuriated at her commander's decision. "What is that moron thinking? He could get us killed!"

"Sheppard told me to tell you that she is not hostile and that we are going to take a vote on what to do with her." AdI calmly stated, gotta love those AI's.

"I say throw her out a window…" Miranda mumbled under her breath.

"You're sounding a lot like the Krogan right now. His exact words were," a recording played of Grunt's idea on what to do with Shika and everyone burst into laughter.

That's when Sheppard interred the room. "What's so funny?"

Miranda was the first one to speak. "No-nothing, Commander." A couple humans rolled their eyes.

Grunt, Tali, and a wide-eyed Shika entered after words, her eyes immediately locking onto the Salarian and every other non-human in the room.

"It's like she's never been off planet before." Grunt scoffed irritably.

Miranda was the first to comment on Shika's arrival. "Of course there's not threat! It's just a human! Unarmed at that!"

Tali laughed and confused many of the people there, "I wouldn't be too sure about her race, planet of origin, _or_ if she's unarmed or not. Grunt made that mistake."

Shepard motioned for his team to sit down while and for Shika to go and stand behind him. "Tali. Not now. Alright, finishing up what this meeting was originally for before our little interruption," He looked back at Shika who was leaning on the railing looking at who-knows-what not caring about what was going on just about when she could get something to eat. "There is currently an unknown species currently attacking human colonies and furthermore-"

Shika tuned out what was currently going on and tried to get a comm link with her dad without alerting attention to herself and was successful but it was taking a lot of effort. :Hey, Dad, what's up? Twins behaving themselves?:

A gruff voice could be heard on the other side. :Shikara! Where the pit are you! You were supposed to be back at base an hour ago!:

:Yeah…: She droned out as long as possible. :About that…. I'm not quite sure when I'll be home. I wasn't even sure I'd be able to contact you.:

There was a long silence. :You were teleported again weren't you:

:Yup. I need to start leaving the lights on when I recharge…:

She could faintly hear the sounds of Owl City's Vanilla Twilight leaking into the comm link that was abruptly caught short by a cannon shot. :Damn Bumblebee…:

Shika laughed over the comm. :Well, I gotta explain some things to these people before they freak out just thought I'd let you know I was ok and you should thank Ratchet for these long range comm units.:

He sighed, :Will do, sweetspark. See you soon.:

:Bye Dad: Shika shut off the comm link incase her dad decided he had something else he wanted to say. It was hard enough not being able to see him for the next who-knows-how-long but she knew that if she stayed on with him any longer then she did then things might get a little bit difficult, as she would want to stay on with him longer as well.

She allowed her processor to accept sound coming from the organics again, just in time to hear, "Umm- hello?" she opened her eyes and saw a hand waving in-front of her face. It was Tali, and confused looks were on all the faces of the people at the table.

"Oh, Primus… I'm sorry. I zoned out. So what were you guys saying?"

Commander Sheppard sighed, it was going to be a long trip with this one. "What's your name?"

"Which one?"

Tali faced her. "Don't you only have one?"

"Nope," Shika popped on the 'p' then held up two fingers, "I've got two, either one works."

Sheppard grabbed the bridge of his nose irritably. "Both."

"Alrighty then, my human name is Shikara Tishike, the one I use the most often, and my Cybertronian name is Soundbreaker Hide."

"Soundbreaker?" The Salarian, "Interesting name. But, what's a 'Cybertronian'? I thought I knew all the names of all the species in the universe."

"Guess you're not as smart as you thought, huh?" A human.

"No. We cannot identify that species either. It is currently unknown." The Geth.

Shika leaned back against the railing and tilted her head up, "I'll show you all when we have more space. There's not enough in here."

The Salarian spoke up again. "Not enough room? Exactly how large are we talking about?"

Shika made eye contact with him, "Well. I'm a little over 20 feet tall in my Cybertronian form." She took in disbelieving looks from the majority of them and an inquisitive look from the Salarian, "and in human equivalent, I'm only about 6 months old. And our aging process gets close to a stop at about 13."

"How old are you in actual years?"

Shika sighed, changing the subject as she didn't want to answer the question. "Can we continue this conversation later? I'd like to know whether or not I'm being thrown out a window."

A bald tattooed, girl laughed in a corner. She had her feet crossed and on the table, the chair she was sitting on only had two of its four legs on the floor. The clothes she wore exposed much of her skin and that skin appeared to be Caucasian. "I like this bitch!" She exclaimed.

Sheppard sighed at the girl's outburst, "Alright," he leaned on the table, "anyone for welcoming Shikara onto the Normandy, say 'I'." there was a course of 'I''s and one 'Nay' from Miranda. The brunette turned to the woman. "Why not?"

Miranda leaned forward in her chair towards the Commander and entangled her fingers together, "Look, Shepard. We know nothing about her and yet you're willing to trust her as if she's a long lost friend. We know nothing about these 'Cybertronians' and she hasn't told us anything. Plus, what the hell happened to Grunt's gun? I'm sure it didn't get all twisted by itself. Was that her too? What if she's hostile? Or a traitor and that's why she's not with the rest of her kind. Did you ever think about that?"

Sheppard glanced at Tali and Grunt then back at Miranda, "Look, Lawson. When we attacked her, instead of fighting back she just dodged the bullets and decapitated Grunts gun so that we would stop shooting at her. She was in the perfect position to blow his head off with those big ass cannons attached to her arms but just backed away with her hands above her head and just stood there while Tali and I had our guns pointed at her head, her arms raised. She had more than one chance to attack s back and turned all of them down. Now does that make her a bad fighter? I wouldn't know. What I do know is that if she was hostile the three of us would be dead and you all would be left without a commander."

The tattooed woman shot up immediately, the metal legs clanging on the floor beneath her. "Wait, you said something about 'big ass cannons'?"

The Commander sighed again, "Later, Jack." She slumped back into her chair, not bothering to return to her original position. "Now does anyone have anything else to say on why she _shouldn't _be here?" The same man who had dissed the Salarian opened his mouth but then closed it again, Sheppard, seeing this, said, "Go ahead Taylor."

"Well I think we should at least give her a chance. Take her on a mission or two, see how she does, and then we can make the vote again after we've gotten to know her a bit. It's not really fair to judge a person when you pretty much know nothing but their name, or names in her case."

The Asari spoke up, "I agree with the child. This little one could be of some use to us. After some training of course."

Jack shrugged, "All I want is to see her cannons…"

An old human looked at Jack as if she was some sort of idiot, "That's all you ever think about isn't it?" Jack shrugged again.

Sheppard sighed at his crew's childish behavior. "All in favor of Taylor's suggestion, say 'I'" A chorus of I's rang through the room. Sheppard stood up straight, "Alright then, Dismissed!"

Shika watched as everyone left the room, leaving her and Jack together, "Alright then, Squirt. Welcome to the Normandy!"


	2. Chapter 2: Transmutations

Woo! Chappie 2! Ya know, with, like, 75 views you'd think I'd have more than one review but thanks to the person who did! Names will not be mentioned. He knows who he is. Just know that he is the reason I am writing this chappie! Well on with the story an actually REVIEW!

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Shika watched as Jack left the room and sat down in one of the chairs. She balanced her head on one of her hands and sat there not knowing where to go or what to do next.

After a few moments Shikara felt a buzzing in her head and immediately picked up the Comm :Hey, Dad.:

:What's going on? Are the people you met going to let you stay?: her dad sounded frantic, she could feel his anxiety over the link.

:Yeah, that was just decided a few moments ago. Although two of them wanted me thrown out an airlock…: she sighed at the fleshing's immaturity.

:THEY WANTED TO DO WHAT!:

:_Two_ of them wanted me thrown out a window at first but their commander changed their minds. There's a lot of organics here I don't think I've ever seen before though. I'm going to have to tell them more than I'm comfortable revealing.: She sighed, :Tell Prime that I might not make it for our next lesson. I have a feeling I'll be here for a while.:

There was a brief pause on her dad's side, :Fine.: he growled, :But you WILL stay in contact with us. Is that clear, Sparkling?:

:Crystal.: she canceled the comm and exited the room.

She walked around for a while before she heard a voice over the speaker, "Will Soundbreaker please report to the Research Lab?"

She rolled her eyes, "Just because that's my Cybertronian name doesn't mean I prefer it. I like Shika." She walked past a few doors before she got to a large area with a holographic map of what looked like the Milky Way Galaxy. She stared at it for a while, "Whoa."

"Yes. It is 'Whoa', huh?" Shika whipped around to the voice that had surprised her.

"Uh, yeah. Jacob right?" she rubbed the back of her head nervously.

"Jacob Taylor. Aren't you supposed to be in the Research Lab?" he asked, arms crossed.

"Well. I can't find it." She shrugged, "I was looking for the room when I saw that thing." She gestured toward the map.

"Have you ever been off planet before?"

"erm…" she thought about a way to answer without lying or giving away too much, "not really."

"'Not really'?" he asked, quoting her, "what do you mean?"

"Uh…what year is it?"

"2186. Why?"

"Because I don't know anything that happened between 2011 and now." She sighed knowing that by revealing that already gave away more than she was ready for.

"How is that…"

"Jacob. I am over 300 years old and haven't even reached full maturity for my kind. I was pretty much just born but I have more field experience than you would expect. My kind has been in an ongoing civil war for the past three millennia and most of the children die within the first few years. I was teleported here somehow and need to get back. My dad. My family. They were all on Earth in the year 2011 but now I don't know. I don't even know if it's the same 'Earth' or one of its parallels but either way I don't care. That's how it is possible. Now could you direct me to the Research Lab? I don't want to keep whoever's waiting for me waiting for me any longer."

"Mordin his name is Mordin. He's a Salarian. The door's near the Comm room just go past it instead of into it."

"Comm room? Oh! We were just in there right? Thanks for what you said. I don't really feel like dying today." Her voice had unexpectedly switched to its happy complex.

"Uh. Yeah." Jacob's eyebrow raised in confusion at the emotional change, "You're welcome."

Shika smiled then turned and left, heading back to the Comm room. Approaching it she saw the really big letters that stated, 'Research Lab' and walked toward it. The door opened automatically to her approach, she could hear a beeping noise appear when she entered the room, like one that kept track of a heartrate, "Hello?"

Mordin turned to the voice, "Hm? Oh, yes. Shikara, the Commander wanted to do a medical checkup. Protocol."

She sighed, "I am in working order. Trust me. You'd know if something was wrong. My kind doesn't get damaged very easily."

"Yes. But nothing is known about you. Need more data. How old are you?"

"369. Why?"

"Hm, Not human. Unquestionably. But as why you take that form?"

"It would be awkward for me to walk around at a height of 20 feet all the time, although I can change my body to be about 50% of its original mass. That and I wouldn't fit through the doors. My kind also came into contact with human's first so it was the first thing to come to mind. I'm actually the only one to be able to take this form among my family, as I am the youngest. I will lose this ability within the 500 years."

"50%? That's ten feet. You're only 5' 10". How?"

"Explanations will be given later. That, and I rounded my actual height. I'm more like 16 feet tall. That and I have a special… _ability_ that allows me to become smaller than just 50%. Any more questions?"

"Is there anything important I should know about your kind?"

Shikara let the fake heartbeat that she had learned to create go dead and the beeping turned into a continuous note that caught Mordin completely by surprise and looked at it then back to Shika who was calmly walking away, "My kind isn't organic." She exited the room leaving a dumbfounded Salarian to his own confusion.

XXXXXXXX

Shikara allowed her fake heart come back online, trying to fight back a giggle from Mordin's reaction. She walked past Jack who saw the immeasurable amount of glee on the newbie's face, "What's so funny?"

Shika turned around to face her, "I just scared the crap out of Mordin."

"And how the hell'd you do that?" She asked raising her eyebrow.

"I made my heart stop beating." She said matter of factly.

Jack stared at her for a while, wondering if she was okay and when she saw that Shika had no injuries whatsoever let her face light up with laughter, "I'm not gonna ask how you did that but Mordin's gonna be bothered about this for weeks!" Shika allowed herself to laugh along with Jack, "Hey, Joker! You eavesdropping again?"

A chuckle could be heard over the speaker, "It's what I do best!"

"Stalker…" she mumbled.

"I heard that!"

"That's why I said it! You heard what 'Breaker did right?"

"EDI got it on tape. I'll give you a copy." Another laugh could be heard over the speaker.

Shika made a crooked smile, "You watchin' it now?"

"Soundbreaker, right?" Joker asked.

"Shika. I prefer Shika."

Jack huffed, "I'm still gonna call you 'Breaker. Sounds cooler." Shika looked down from the speaker and at Jack, "What? You have a problem with that."

Shika thought about her response for a moment, "Ya know call me what you want."

"Alright then Shika." Joker interrupted their… 'bonding moment, "You're going to take my title away title away from me. I'm the funny one in this ship."

Jack scoffed, "You never had a title, Joker."

"I'd be careful if I was you. Who drives this ship?"

"Point taken…" she grabbed her bottom lip with her teeth.

Shika twisted her face, "Wait. Why were you eaves dropping?"

His voice made it sound as if he had shrugged, "Not much to do when you're a pilot with Vrolik Syndrome."

"Vrolik Syndrome? Never heard of- oh! Ok, I get it now." Shika's face went from confusion to realization in two seconds.

Jack stared at her, "What?"

"When I don't get something my Pro- mind, automatically looks it up for me via the internet." She paused before she said mind, hoping as not to confuse them with her Cybertronian terms.

Jack held up her hand, "Wait, 'pro-'? 'Pro-' what?"

"Processor. As Joker already knows if he's seen what I showed Mordin he knows I'm not organic." She looked at a confused Jack, "What?"

Joker beat her to the question, "Yeah, I get that. Quick question though. Who made you? You're the most advanced AI I've seen. Sorry EDI."

The AI ignored Joker with silence. Shika broke it, "I'm not an AI. My dad would have already shot you down if you said that to him. He has a short temper. I'm just a different- no, that's not the right way to say it. My species took a different course of evolution than humans, and other organics. While you are all flesh and blood, we're metal and Energon."

Jack's face twisted with confusion, "Energon? What the hell is that?"

"Energy harvested from supernovas. My species lives off it. Which is why there was- or is, I'm not really sure- a civil war about it going on. Some of my kind, the Decepticons, didn't take too kindly to humans and wanted to make a supernova of Earth's sun." There was a long pause and a worried look from Jack who took a step back, "Don't look at me like that! I'm an Autobot, kinda. Autobots are trying to stop the Decepticons from getting rid of the sun. It's been working so far."

A confused voice came from Joker, "But why do you blow up _suns_? Can't you get other sources of your Energon stuff?"

Shika shook her head, "It would take 100 nuclear fusion facilities create enough Energon for one of our children. If it makes you feel any better, we swore never to destroy a sun that had a solar system that had or was capable of life. It also has to be close to dying on its own but that's an unwritten rule. Earth was the first and that's because of a bastard named the Fallen who decided humans were a lower species. He was the first 'Con and got other's to follow him."

"That makes it better, I think. But how are you surviving?" Jack asked Shika.

"After we reach 100 years of age our bodies are large enough to get a device that turns sun rays into Energon but we don't need as much to survive as the younger ones. That and it makes Energon a lot slower than harvesting it from supernovas."

"Then why don't you make a really big one of those devices to harvest the energy from the rays?" Joker was still confused.

Shika sighed, "Because. The Sparklings need a lot more than the machines can harvest to jumpstart their sparks."

Jack's face went back to confusion, "'Sparks'? What the hell are those?"

"Our equivalent of your heart but it doesn't 'beat' so to speak. It holds all our memories and our personality. Each is unique. Our Processors control our equivalent of your muscles and organs, such as my cannons."

Jack smiled, "I want to see the cannons."

Joker had to disappoint her, "Sorry, Jack. We just got to Omega and Shepard wants her for this mission."

Now it was Shika's turn to be confused, "Omega?"

Jack grinned, "A safe-haven for criminals of all types."

"Oh greeeaaaat. And what does that say about you guys?" Shika said rolling her eyes.

Joker sounded offended, "Hey. Just because we go there doesn't mean we're bad people. There happen to be a lot of goods here that you can't get anywhere else. It might not have a government but it's great for weaponry and armor."

Jack looked at Shika, "She does have a point though… A lot of that stuff is probably stolen anyways."

Joker made a coughing sound that sounded a lot like 'bitch', "But anyways, get up here. Sheppard wants to talk to you before we dock."

"But I don't want to." Shika sounded like a three year old at that moment.

Sheppard's voice was heard where Joker's had been, "Now, Hide!"

Shika yelped, then turned to Jack, "Where are they?"

Jack sighed, "Follow me."


	3. Chapter 3: Omega

Ironhide's Sparkling: This is currently the longest chapter at 14 pages and 5366 words! I made it this one longer as a treat from not updating for so long. Please forgive me! I have COOKIES! Oh! R+R too please!

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Chapter 3: Omega

Jack reluctantly led Shika to where Sheppard and Joker were fighting over who got to use the Comm. Joker seemed pretty offended that he had been pushed out of the way so that Sheppard could voice his annoyance at Shika. Jack coughed, Joker and Sheppard turned towards them, "Uh… so um… I'll just… go now. Good luck 'Breaker." She patted Shika on the shoulder and leaned into her ear so that her voice was heard by none but her, "If he gets irritated, just keep agreeing with him."

Shika watched sadly as Jack left, leaving her with the bickering men. She sighed, closing her eyes before turning her attention back to the two men, "You wanted to see me, Commander?"

Sheppard nodded then handing the mike back to Joker, "It's yours unless it's mine." He turned to her, confused expressions blanketed both Shika's and Joker's faces, "What?"

She shook her head, allowing her face to be wiped back to neutral, "That made no sense. At all… But anyways, what did you need me for, sir?"

Shepard stared at her, "Well one of the things has already been covered by the way you are acting, but just in case I think you should know that on missions-"

She cut him off, "-obey all orders and stick with you right? I've been on field before with my dad and the rest of my family. I know how to act in a war or war-like situation."

"That's good. It means I don't have to go through explaining it all to you." He looked at her for a moment, "How old are you?"

"In human years or-"

"Years, how old are you in normal years." He stated impatiently.

"369. Although I have the mental maturity of a teenager" She sighed. "I told you that I'm still young for my kind. Although I've survived longer than many of our children after the All-spark was sent into space and was destroyed..."

"What is-"

Joker cut in, "Sorry to interrupt, Commander. But we're about to dock." Shika looked out to see a large structure protruding from half an asteroid that made it look an awful lot like Seattle's Space Needle, except there were some major differences. One, it was in the middle of outer space. Two, it was bigger. MUCH bigger. Three, space ships were flying to and from it, not something that the Space Needle accommodated.

Shika went wide eyed, "Whoa." She had seen some pretty exotic things. Not that this was more exotic, it was just cool.

Joker laughed, "Yup. Teenager."

Shika ignored him and just continued staring at Omega before Sheppard retrained her attention, "It's actually a good thing that we are going there now. It's a good chance for us to test your abilities and pick up an old friend."

Joker looked back at them, "Wait, you mean that archangel guy, don't you?"

"Yes, I mean him." Sheppard turned to Joker. "Is there a problem?"

Joker shrugged, "No. Not really. I wonder how people there are going to react after-"

Sheppard cut Joker off, "Hide, go find Jacob and have him fit you for weapons. You're going to need them there and you are _not _going to use your cannons under any circumstance, understood?"

A voice was heard from around the corner, "Damn!"

Shika looked back to where Jack had supposedly left although she wasn't seen it was pretty obvious she was there, "I thought you were against eavesdropping, Jack."

Joker rolled his eyes, "Hypocrite."

Jack walked out from the corner, "I'm only against it if it's me being eavesdropped on, but anyways, why can't she use her cannons?"

Sheppard pinched the bridge of his nose, "How natural is it for a human, not that I am saying you are human Hide, you just take the appearance of one, to have giant metal cannons appear from her arms?"

Jack was silent for a moment, "Very natural."

Shika broke in, "I've been to a parallel universe where that happens a lot. On the same planet lots of humans can do what I did to Grunt's gun. Although I doubt I could teach it here."

"Yeah! See?"

Sheppard groaned in annoyance, "Stop supporting her, Hide. Here it is not natural."

"Wish it was," Jack mumbled, "That would be so fucking awesome."

Shika sighed, "Well I can make a device that looks like a normal weapon but allows me to use the same power source I use for my cannons to power it, that way the gun will both last longer and won't over heat as quickly. That and if it's stolen while we're there it won't work for them and I can always make another."

Sheppard looked at her for a while before answering, "How much time will you need and what materials?"

"I only need a few seconds and a very heat resistant metal."

"A few- How can you make a weapon in just a few seconds?" Jack interrupted.

Shika shrugged, "Alchemy. I told you I've only not been on Earth once and that was while I was on my home planet. However I have been on many of Earth's parallels and they aren't all the same as the one you know."

Joker spoke up, "Isn't alchemy that science that allows you to alter something as long as you have the same amount of matter before and after the transmutation?"

Shika nodded, ignoring the dumbfounded Jack and Sheppard, "Yeah, that's it."

Joker looked at his Commander, "I was online a lot as a kid."

Sheppard silently acknowledged this before turning back to Shikara, "If you can have that device done before we dock on Omega, you have my permission to make it. If not then I want you to find Jacob now and get him to equip you with some weapons."

Shika nodded, "If you can get me the supplies I can. It's a very simple process."

"Go talk to Mordin and tell him what it is you need, but talk to Jacob first. If we don't have what you need then I want you to have a weapon beforehand. And that device is only going to be used after you run out of heat clips for your weapon."

Shika nodded then turned to leave, taking Jack by the arm then turned back at Sheppard, "I do have one question."

Sheppard nodded, "Go ahead."

"Why do you have all those scars on your face?"

"Long story, I will answer it later. As I expect you to do the same about your… heritage."

Shika's face scrunched up slightly in irritation, "I already said I would explain it as soon as I had shown you my actual form. It will be easier to explain then."

"Then I'll tell you after I've been shown."

"Fine." Shika began to walk off, Jack still in tow, "I need you to do me a favor."

Jack yanked her arm out of Shika's grasp and kept pace with her, "What? Do you need me to go ask Mordin for some of that metal?"

She nodded, "If you'd be so kind."

Jack hesitated, "Will the weapon you make be at all like your cannons?"

Shika nodded, "A bit, yes. Although it won't have the same effect as my normal one since it is smaller, which is probably for the best. My dad's cannons can take out entire buildings from a mile away. Well, human buildings."

Jack laughed, "Nice." She looked toward the Research Lab, "Well I'll ask Mordin for your shit while you go and get some weapons."

Shika nodded, "Alright. I'll be in there when you're done. You know what type right?"

Her face took a sarcastically thoughtful expression, "Ummm… Hard and heat resistant right? Shouldn't be too hard."

Shika smiled, "Right. I'll be with Jacob when you get the metal." Jack went to go harass Mordin for the material while Shika took a left towards the Armory. Upon entrance, Shika saw Jacob tending to the malformed object that was Grunt's gun.

Jacob lifted his eyes from the weapon momentarily to look at Shika before giving his attention back to the gun, "You really did a number on this thing. I doubt I'll be able to put it back to the way it was."

Shika sighed, "I can fix it."

Jacob looked up again, "Really?"

She nodded, "Yeah, let me show you." She gently clapped her hands together and placed them on the gun reverting it to its functional form. She looked at a dumbfounded Jacob, "Alchemy."

He shook his head, "Anyways, what are you here for?"

"Sheppard sent me to get some guns before we dock on Omega."

He tilted his head towards the arsenal of weapons hanging beside him, "Take your pick, we've gotta shitload."

She looked at the weapons, "What would you take?"

He shrugged, "Dunno. Depends on the mission, I'm good with all types of firearms."

"Sheppard said we were recruiting someone called Archangel. What would you take on that kind of mission?"

"A heavy pistol, a sniper, an assault rifle, and some other gun. You never really know what could happen on those. You can take mine if you want."

Shika nodded, "Thanks, I'm customizing my own weapon here in a minute so that will take place of the 'other gun'."

"I'm not gonna ask how but here," he handed her an M-5 Phalanx, an M-29 Incisor and an M-8 Avenger, "take these and I expect to have them given back to me. By you."

Shika raised an eyebrow, "As in 'Don't die newbie'?"

Jacob nodded, "Yeah, pretty much."

Shika shook her head and began to leave when Jacob called her again, "Shika, wait. I forgot you'd need one of these." He handed her a holster for her weapons and helped her put it on, "I don't think you'd want to have to carry each of the guns by hand."

She laughed, "No kidding." She allowed him to finish securing it before turning around, "Thanks again. I'm surprised you let me use your guns though."

"I don't think that you're a bad person. Don't let Miranda get to you, she can be a bitch sometimes."

Shika smiled, "I've realized that."

"We all have." Jack's voice appeared unexpectedly behind them and they turned to face her, "I've got the material from Mordin but he wants to see the process. He doesn't understand alchemy and wants to watch you do your thing."

Shika nodded, "That's fine, and it's a really simple process. But I don't see why you're all so fascinated with it."

Jack rolled her eyes, "'Breaker, you don't get that if you aren't lying to us about your Cybertronian roots, which it's pretty obvious you aren't, then you will be the biggest story in all of history when word gets out."

Shika's eyes widened, "No. No telling anyone. Not until I give my say so. My race has been kept secret for millennia, and it would suck if everything was blown just like that."

"Then why did you show Sheppard, Tali, and Grunt your arms?"

She shrugged, "I acted on impulse. Another sucky trait I get from my dad…"

Jacob broke in, "Who is your dad anyways?"

"He's our team's weapon specialist," she explained, "he who we go to when our weapons break, or when we want to spar. Dad loves to spar." She sighed then turned back to Jack, "Let's go get my gun made so I can get back to Sheppard."

Jack shrugged, "Good enough for me. You do know that I'm on this mission to right?"

Shika rolled her eyes as she walked out of the Armory, "I should have guessed," Mordin lifted his head from whatever he was doing as they came in, "you seem like you can handle yourself pretty well in a fight."

"She can." Mordin answered for Jack, "Although, has trouble differing friend from foe."

Jack grunted, "I can vouch for myself, Salarian."

Shika sighed, "Can I just get my gun made?"

Mordin nodded, "Yes. You do that. I will watch."

Shika shook her head slightly at the Salarian as she walked over to the wad of metal sitting on the table, comparing him mentally to the way Blurr used to speak. She calmly clapped her hands and placed them on the metal, transforming it into the desired weapon after it was consumed in a blue light. She looked back up at a stupefied Mordin and Jack, "What?"

Mordin held his hand out for the device, "May I?"

Shika nodded, "Here," she handed him the gun, "let Jack see it afterwards."

She watched as he examined it, muttering things to himself about how it was impossible. He looked at every indent and crease in the metal until he was satisfied with what he saw, "Obviously functional, but as to how it was created? Puzzling." He shook his head, handing the human beside him the weapon. "Can you explain?"

Shika bit her bottom lip, trying to think of a way to explain, "Well, it's Alchemy, a science that basically speeds up many chemical reactions. But it is very difficult to master, and it takes a lot of energy, the more complex the reaction, the more energy is taken up. Luckily, I have much to spare."

Jack continued to ignore the two of them, eagerly examining the gun that Shika had made even closer than the ship's scientist had, "Ah, that make sense. Somewhat. But it is not, as what humans call, magic?"

"Defiantly not. It is a complete science. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Interesting. Do you mind my doing more study on the subject in the future?"

She shook her head, "No, I don't, just no tests on organics. I will tell you why later but Jack and I," she took her gun back from Jack and hooked it into place, "need to get back to the Commander before he gets upset."

Mordin quickly nodded his head in agreement, "Yes, go. Sheppard, not like to be kept waiting."

"I'll be going then." She turned to the door, "Come on Jack."

Just as they left the lab they heard Joker's voice overhead, "Will Shikara and Jack please report to the air lock?"

Jack snorted, "Guess you were right about us not having much time."

"Sheppard said we didn't have much time to begin with, I knew we were pushing it." Shika didn't even look back as this was said, "Do you have what you need?"

"I always have what I need." Shika watched as a blue light quickly enveloped her before dissipating back into her body.

"Biotics?"

Jack smiled coyly, "Best there is."

Shika rolled her eyes, "Brag much?"

"Yup."

"Stop messing around. If you two are going to act like this when we get in to a tough situation I'll have to reconsider having both of you on the same team." Sheppard was standing by the airlock, impatiently waiting for the two of them.

Shika nodded, "Yes, commander." She looked over to Jack who was standing there impatient and annoyed, something that the commander took no notice of, or, didn't seem to take notice.

"Let's go get Archangel and come back, we can go browsing for things another time."

Jack spoke up, "I thought part of this mission was to get weapons and armor for 'Breaker?"

Sheppard nodded, "It was. But Archangel doesn't have a lot of time apparently, seems he's taken on a couple of enemies and they've teamed up on him. No more questions."

"Yes, Commander." Was the monotone response from the two girls.

"Joker, open the airlock."

Joker's voice was heard over the intercom, "Aye aye, Commander." The door in front of them hissed and opened up into one of Omega's docking areas, revealing both aliens and humans alike, none of them paying any attention to the group of people exiting the ship.

Shika grinned, "Nice."

Jack grinned along with her, "I know. This place is so fucking awesome."

Sheppard sighed, "You two are beginning to creep me out… and your mirroring each other isn't helping." He began to walk towards one of the cabs.

They smiled at each other before following Sheppard, he entered the vehicle and the two women followed afterward. The driver looked back at Sheppard, "Where to?"

The Commander activated his omni-tool, prepaying the driver, "The Afterlife. I need to speak to Aria."

The driver turned back around and made himself comfortable, "Your funeral." He mumbled.

Shika shut down her sensory upgrades and Commed her dad, partially because she needed to talk to him and give him an update and partially because the human driving the vehicle stunk like a pig, :Hello?:

Her dad's worried voice picked up immediately, :Shikara?:

:Hey Dad.: Shika replied, :I'm on a mission. I should be fine though. Even if I'm not allowed to use my cannons I still won't be bothered by their gun fire…:

Ironhide laughed, :I know, be careful, Sparkling.:

:I will Dad. Bye.: She cut off the Comm. link just in time as the cab came to a stop. She turned to Sheppard, "Who's Aria?"

Sheppard sighed, getting out of the cab, "Omega's… ruler in a way. She can probably explain it better. No more questions."

Shika glared at him coldly for a moment, "Fine." She scoffed. Jack laughed for a moment before a cold glare from both Shika and Sheppard shut her up.

Sheppard began to walk away but Shika stayed put. Watching the cab that was currently driving away from the place where they had been dropped off. She was planning on scanning it for her alt mode but she didn't like the style. Too… bland. She decided she would probably find a better vehicle to scan eventually, and if not, she could scan one of those later.

They walked up to a door that had 'Afterlife' written in red letters across the top. In front of the door was a bunch of people waiting in a long line, and the majority of them spewed nasty words at them as Sheppard talked to the man regulating who got in and who came out. Sheppard ignored them and Jack spewed nasty words back. Eventually they all shut up.

Shika got a tap on the shoulder from Sheppard who then motioned for her to follow him, she nodded and began to walk forward but was blocked by a Krogan hand, "Whoa. Aren't you a bit young to be going into a bar?"

Shika thought about that for a moment, "No. Not really. And I wasn't planning on drinking anyways."

The Krogan stood in front of her, "Haha. Very funny, Human. How old are you? Thirteen?"

Shika sighed then sent a pleading look at Sheppard, who shrugged and mouthed, 'Take care of it yourself.'

Shika turned back to the Krogan, "How's this, we have a hand to hand fight and if I win I get to go with my commander. First one flat on their back loses." She saw someone in line lean against the railing and laugh, saying, 'This is gonna be good.'

The Krogan crossed his arms, "You don't know what you're getting yourself into, kid."

She heard Jack laugh from beside Sheppard, "I think it's the other way around, buddy." That was followed by a quick, "Hush." from Sheppard.

The Krogan sighed, "Look kid, if you die, your friends back there aren't going to be very happy."

"She ain't-" Jack was cut off by a loud smack in the back of her head by Sheppard, who was now telling her irritably, to keep her mouth shut.

The Krogan unfolded his arms, "Fine. You get me to fall flat on my back, without the use of any projectile, and I'll let you pass."

Shika grinned, and put her hands in her pockets, "Cool."

The Krogan charged forward and Shika prepared to spring, hands still snug in her pockets. She jumped and spun in the air, landing still facing the Krogan, who was now looking for his missing target. She walked up to him and tapped his shoulder, he responded by turning around and throwing a punch in her direction, which she ducked and caught. With only his hand, she picked him up and flipped him over to the ground, then stood on his back and pinned his arm behind him, "Can I go in now? Or do you want a round two?" There were cheers from the group of people who had once doubted she was going to survive. Jack was laughing and Sheppard had an incredibly large grin on his face.

The Krogan began reaching back for Shika's foot, likely annoyed by the fact he had been defeated so easily, but he was unable to reach her. So he resulted to something a little less becoming, "G-Get off me!"

Shika let go of his arm and jumped back off him, the Krogan stood up, cracking his neck. He turned to face Shika, "You're good. Better than I had expected. Go ahead."

Shika put her hands back in her pockets, "Thanks." She turned around and began to walk past the cheering line of people towards her commander before the man who had leaned against the railing before the battle had started grabbed her arm.

"Hey. What's your name, kid?"

She looked to her commander, who made a quick little nod of his head, "Soundbreaker. Soundbreaker Hide."

"Soundbreaker Hide?" He let go of her arm and stepped back, "That's and odd name for a human."

She grinned, "Ask my commander, I'm not human." Shika looked away from the man and walked up the slope to the door where Sheppard and Jack were both standing, "That was fun."

Sheppard closed his eyes and sighed, "I'm sure it was, Hide."

Jack walked up next to her, "You've just made a name for yourself, 'Breaker." She laughed.

Shika grinned, "Have I?"

"Yup." Shika watched someone rush past them, he looked back and smiled at Shika before continuing into the club, "See him?" She pointed after the man, "He just watched you beat up that Krogan, within the next twenty-four hours you're going to be known by almost everyone in Omega."

"Don't scare the girl, Jack." Sheppard called back to them.

The girls laughed.

XXXXXX

Sheppard led them up to the top floor, where she saw a bunch of aliens whose species she didn't recognize and an Asari dressed in a black and white full body outfit, watching over the rest of the Afterlife, Shika was almost certain that it was Aria. Sheppard began to approach her, but he was cut off when she said, "That's close enough." signaling her bodyguards to defend her. The guards were all pointing their guns at Shika and Jack, and some at commander Sheppard. Shika and Jack both prepared to defend themselves, Shika pulled out one of the weapons Jacob had given her, while Jack activated her Biotics.

Aria gave a little twitch of her head and all the guns came down, including Shika's. Sheppard glanced back at her and made a little motion of his own and Shika holstered the pistol. The remaining Biotic blue light coming from Jack went down as well.

A Batarian stepped in front of Sheppard and a blue humanoid hologram appeared from his orange omni-tool, "Stand still." he grumbled impatiently.

Sheppard ignored the Batarian and took a step forward and quickly pointed at the Asari, "I was told you're the person to talk to if I have questions."

The Batarian looked back at Aria, "They're clean." He walked away, his eyes glued on Sheppard.

Aria turned around and walked toward Sheppard, "Depends on the questions."

"You run Omega?" Shika could tell that this question was more for her benefit than his, but there was still a hint of genuine curiosity in his voice.

Aria laughed once, then turned around and walked to the railing and raised her arms as if she was praying to some unknown God, "I _am_ Omega." She turned back to Sheppard and then turned to his right, pacing, "But you need more. Everyone needs more _something _and they all come to me." She turned around and paced in the other direction, "I'm the Boss, CEO, Queen, if… you're feeling dramatic." She glanced and stopped in front of him but didn't turn to face him, "But it doesn't matter. Omega _has_ no ruler and only one rule." She sat down in front of him and crossed her legs, "Don't _fuck_ with Aria." She grinned.

Sheppard looked down at her, "Sounds like neither of us likes being jerked around."

She pointed at him quickly, "And on your ship that would matter. But here, we entertain _my _preferences." She gestured for him to take a seat and looked forward.

He sat down and she looked back at him, "So, what can I do for you?"

Sheppard leaned against his leg, "I'm trying to track down Archangel."

"You, and half of Omega. You want him dead too?"

He sat up, and Shika shifted on her feet, "I'm putting a team together. He's on my list."

"Interesting, you're gonna make some enemies teaming up with Archangel. Assuming you can get to him. He's in a little bit of trouble right now."

Sheppard nodded once, "I get that, just tell me how to find him."

"The local Merc groups are recruiting anyone with a gun to help them take down Archangel."

Jack grinned at Shikara, "That could be our way in."

Aria ignored her and continued speaking, "They're using a private room for recruiting." She gestured to her left, "Just over there, I'm sure they'll sign you up."

Sheppard nodded, "Thanks for the help."

She smiled, "See if you still feel that way when the Mercs realize you're here to help him."

Sheppard stood up, "Seems I don't have much time to waste."

She looked up at him, "You've got all the time in the world. Archangel," she shook her head, "not so much."

Sheppard turned around and walked down the stairs, Jack and Shika followed, "So we're joining, what, a mercenary group now?" Shika inquired.

Jack grinned, "Pretty much."

Sheppard walked up to a Batarian dressed in blue and red armor and the two of them shut up, "I hear you're recruiting." The Batarian gestured to his right and Sheppard followed the direction of his arm to a room. They entered in time to hear the Batarian inside say, "You'll get paid when the job's done." To the person leaving the room. Sheppard walked up to the desk and leaned against it, the Batarian pointed to him and Jack, "You two look like you could do some damage," he looked at Shikara, "the little one, not so much."

Jack jumped in before anything else could be said, "She took down a Krogan, without a gun."

He looked back at Sheppard, "Ok then. Looking for a good fight?"

Sheppard nodded, "You could say that."

The Batarian started typing things into the holographic board. Sheppard took a few steps back, "Standard fee is 500 credits each, you get paid when the job's done. If you die your friends don't collect your share. You need your own weapons and armor," He looked up from the board, "well it looks like you've got weapons under control."

Sheppard nodded to the two of them, "I'm pretty sure my team will be fine."

"Alright." He shifted on his feet, "No, this does not make you a member of the Blue Suns, Eclipse, or the Blood Pack. You are a freelancer. Period. Any questions?"

Sheppard cracked his knuckles, "Where do we go?"

The Batarian gestured to his left, "Just head over to the transport depot outside the club, one of our boys will take you from there." He went back down to his computer screen, "Send in the next one."

The door opened and a young boy wearing a yellow beanie that matched his leather yellow vest, "Hey, is this where I sign up?"

Sheppard turned around and looked at the boy, "You look a little young to be freelancing as a Merc."

The boy glanced back and caught Shika's eye, who smiled and waved, he turned and walked toward Sheppard "I'm old enough! I grew up on Omega, I know how to use a gun!" he looked back at Shika, "And what about her? She's what, fifteen?"

Jack shook her head, "She's a lot older than she looks, and you're going to need more than that if you want to survive, not that I care."

He glared at Jack, "I can handle myself!" He went down into a holster on his left side and pulled out a pistol, "Besides, I just spent 50 credits on this pistol and I wanna-"

Sheppard walked forward and grabbed ahold of the kid's collar, bringing his face intimidatingly close to the kid's, "Get your money back."

Sheppard took the gun and the kid's face lit up with shock, "Hey! What're you-!"

Sheppard quickly removed the heat clip and gave the kid his pistol back, "Trust me kid, you'll thank me later." Sheppard turned and left leaving the confused teen behind.

Outside, once the door closed Sheppard said, "Let's get to Archangel." They began to walk towards the exit.

Shika smiled, "I wouldn't have thought you'd care if that kid died or not."

Sheppard didn't even glance over at her, "I try and save as many lives as I can, Hide. That kid was going to get himself killed out there."

"As far as you know, I don't have any training either." One of her eyebrows lifted questioningly.

Jack smiled, "But your skin is also made out of a Bullet-Proof metal."

Shika quickly glanced over at her, "How did you know that?"

Sheppard whacked Jack over the back of her head, "Ow! Sheppard had EdI scan you while you were spaced out in the comm room. OW!" Another smack.

Shika sighed, "So everyone knows I'm bullet proof?"

Sheppard nodded, "Which is probably why Miranda was so edgy about letting you come with us."

Shika nodded, "I can understand that."

At that moment they exited the Afterlife and there was an even longer line of people as well as someone who looked similar to a reporter. Someone in the front of the line pointed at her and said, "That's her!"

The reporter turned and followed the man's finger right to Shika and she approached her, "Are you Soundbreaker Hide?"

Shika glanced around, "Uhh… yeah?"

"Do you have a few moments? I'd like to ask you a couple of questions." A microphone was shoved into Shika's face, "Uhh… not, really…"

The woman ignored her, "Is it true you defeated a Krogan _without_ the use of any projectiles?"

Shika nodded, "Yes, but," She glanced back at Sheppard and Jack, who were now at her sides, Jack looked smug and Sheppard, annoyed.

Sheppard put his palm on the camera, "Miss. Hide is currently on a mission right now so if you would be so kind as to postpone this little interview 'til later…"

"But-!" he woman looked up and saw Sheppard and her face filled with fear and worry, "Oh. Yes… I think I do have a different… appointment right about not so um… I'll continue this later." She ran off and the little robot camera trailed after her.

Sheppard put his hand on Shika's back and pushed her forward towards the transportation depot. Shika looked up at him, "Thanks. I don't think I could have gotten out of that one without hurting the woman."

They walked up to the Batarian, "Only way to get rid of her is to hurt her, Hide. Why do you think she's scared of me?"

Shika nodded, "Ah."

Sheppard let go of her shoulder and approached the Batarian, "We're on the mission."

"I hope you're ready, Archangel has been annihilating any freelancers." His arm made a fluid motion in front of his middle. He pointed at Shika, "Isn't she a little young?"

"She's older than she looks, trust me, much older."

"Alright then."

Sheppard nodded, "We're ready when you are."

The Batarian stopped leaning against the car and gestured toward the door, "Get in." The three of them entered the cab, Shika got in last, but not 'til after scanning the vehicle.

* * *

Ironhide's Sparkling: End of Chapter 3! ~w~ and like I said before! PLEASE REVIEW! And speaking of reviews, thank you Knightwolf1875 for reviewing on every chapter so far!


	4. Chapter 4: A Surprise of Our Own

Hello everyone. Please forgive me for the lack of updates. I am currently writing an actual book that is soon to be published and I haven't had time to write this up. It has been in my draft journal for weeks now. Once again, I am sorry.

The Red cab came to a stop at the bottom of some stairs and the vehicle hissed as the roof rose to allow its passengers to exit. The ride here had been very quiet, however as soon as the group exited, a different Batarian in the same Blue Suns uniform walked down the stairs and towards the group, "It's about time they sent someone who looks like they can actually fight. They tell you what we're up against?" He asked, tilting his head to one side.

Sheppard shifted on his feet, "The recruiter was a little vague."

"We wouldn't get many hires if everyone knew the truth." His head moved again and he shifted slightly to Shika's right, "Archangel's holed up in a building at the end of the boulevard over there." He quickly glanced behind himself and then returned his attention to the small group and continued to sway, although subtly. "He's got superior position, and the only way in is over a very exposed bridge. It's a killing ground." He made a few slicing motions in the air in front of him, "But he's getting tired, making mistakes, we'll have him soon enough."

Sheppard gestured with his head toward the Batarian, "You guys have a plan?"

The Batarian's hands were now back at his sides, Shika wondered why he was moving around so much, "A small team is willing to infiltrate his hideout, but we need to draw Archangel's fire so they can move in."

Shepard arched an eyebrow. "And that's where we come in?"

The Batarian nodded. "Exactly." He gestured to the rest of Sheppard's team, "You'll be on a distraction team. Head straight over the bridge and keep Archangel busy so the infiltration team can sneak in behind him."

Jack crossed her arms and glared at the Batarian, "That's goddamn suicide."

The Batarian shrugged, which pissed off Shika. Her eyes glinted red for a moment and her Cybertronian skin began to form slowly on her arm beneath her sleeve. The Batarian's expression remained calm, "Pretty much, but you look like you can handle it." Shika was still pissed, but began to calm down when Jack tapped her arm and sent her a warning glance. The Batarian paced to the left, "Head up to the boulevard and get to the third barricade. Talk to Sergeant Cathka. He'll tell you when to go in."

Shepard raised his arm to point past the man in front of them, "I better get going then."

The Batarian nodded in agreement, "That's a good idea. Watch yourself on the boulevard. Archangel's killed dozens out there already." He walks off.

Once out of hearing range, Jack said, "In's gonna be easy, Out's gonna be a bitch." Shika nodded in agreement.

Shepard glanced back at the two girls. "Let's find him first. Then we'll figure out how to get back."

As they went up the stairs, EDi sent a transmission, "Shepard, I've scanned the area, but I am unable to plot any other paths to Archangel."

Shepard sighed, "I guess we're going with the Mercs." Jack wooed happily.

She was ignored as EDi continued, "  
The heavy Mercs and gunship possess considerable firepower. Weakening them before leaving will improve your chances."

Shepard walked into a room and to a table with an abandoned data pad, Shika didn't have a chance to scan it completely before Shepard put it back down, but it had something to do Garm's troops. The message was sent from Tarak to Jaroth. He turned around and they followed him into a fairly small room containing a battle mech, data pads, and a few other things littered around. Shepard hacked into the mech after picking up an object that turned out to be some element zero. "That should slow them down." He said, turning to exit the room.

Shika smirked, "Nice, now anyone who activates that thing will get blown the pit up, friend or foe."

They went back out the door that led to the mech's room and walked up to the boulevard. The group walked up to another freelancer in the back with black and white armor. "We're looking for Sergeant Cathka."

He looked at the groop and stifles a chuckle. "You and me both, pal." He gestured to the area in front of him. "He's over there, working on the gunship." He looked back at Shepard, "We go over the bridge when he gives the word. Go talk to him if you want, I'm in no hurry." He shakes his head.

Shepard nodded, then led them towards the ship.

The freelancer sighed, calling after them. "Good luck." A few humans were guarding the stairs leading to the gunship. "Cathka." Was all Shepard had to say for one of the two humans to stab a thumb behind himself and for both to step to one side.

They walked up the steps towards the Batarian who stepped away from the gunship and faced the team, "Sergeant Cathka." He said, introductorily before he tapped on something on his helmet, making his eyes visible. "Ah, you must be the group Salkie mentioned. You're just in time."

Shepard rose his shoulders in a quick shrug, "You were waiting for us?"

Cathka shook his head, "The infiltration team is about to give us the signal." The two men turned to face the battle grounds, "Archangel won't know what hit him. Got any questions? This may be your last chance."

They turned to face each other and Shepard gestured to the craft behind Cathka, "You going to cover us with the gunship?"

Cathka laughed immediately in response, "Ha! Tarak is the only one who flies her." He glances at the ship, then back to Shepard, "Besides, she's not quite ready. That bastard Archangel gave her a beating the last time she was out there." He looks at his data pad, "A few more tweaks and she'll be as good as new."

"So our plan is to jump the wall and attack Archangel's building?"

"Yeah." Cathka nodded, "and try not to get killed too fast. You're only a distraction as long as you're alive." Cathka shook his head, "You don't have to make it all the way across," He says, nodding to the bridge, "just keep Archangel watching you. The infiltration team will do the rest." Cathka lit a cigarette and inhaled, blowing second hand smoke into the air.

Shepard waved the smoke out of his face, "Are you leading the assult?"

Cathka laughed again, this time actually throwing his head back and spoke as he brought it back down, "Ha! Tarak doesn't pay me enough to fight. I just plan the attacks and fix the damn gunship." He nodded to the group, "You freelancers get the freedom of-"

A beep from the data pad interrupted him, followed by a transmission, both men looked towards it, "Target is in sight. We're a go." Was all it said.

Cathka leaned over it, "Check. Bravo team—go, go, go!" he called quickly and loudly. A group of human men walked to the bridge past Jack and Shika. Cathka pushed himself up from his leaning position over the data pad. "Archangel's got quite a surprise waiting for him." He said, looking back to Shepard then tapping his helmet to shield his eyes again. "But that means no more waiting for me." He went back to working on the gunship, drawing his attention away from Shepard and leaving himself wide open. "Got to get her back to a hundred percent before Tarak decides he needs her again." Shepard noticed a small, electrical spark emitting from an exposed wire.

He gripped it and walked towards the Batarian. "You really should take a day off." He said, before jamming the wire into the back of the male's suit, who was now dying as his body spazzed uncontrollably, before he fell to the ground. Shepard walked to Shika and Jack. "Let's go. " He said, pushing between them. The girls looked at each other, then followed behind him.

They soon caught up with the rest of the freelancers. Some were loading their weapons with thermal clips, and then ran out from cover. Shika assessed the situation. "There's not much time, Archangel's in trouble."

Jack activated her Biotics and the blue light swarmed greedily around her body, "Then what the hell are we waiting for?"

Gunshots could be heard as the freelancers continued to push forward. One shot a grenade into Archangel's window and the Turian countered with a gunshot through the head. The body fell as Shepard, Jack, and Shika jumped over the barricade, ready for battle. Shepard cracked his knuckles, "Come on. We'll give these guys a surprise of our own."

/

I do hope you enjoyed this. Please leave your comments so I know if you enjoyed my story. I would like to know though. Should Shika show that she can be a vehicle in the next chapter? Or wait until a later one? The reviews are open to anonymous, so leave your opinion on what you want me to do there if you wish.


	5. Chapter 5: Archangel's Rescue

For any of you still here, thanks for sticking with me. If you could check out my poll on my profile I'd really appreciate it. Thanks. Please Review! And thanks to Gamergirl052 for being my Beta for this chapter!

"They're with Archangel!"

Shika fired a round through the freelancer's skull, killing him instantly. She wondered for a moment how he could've ended up here and almost felt sorry for the men and women who had signed on as a distraction but thought better of it, ducking into cover as another man fired at her. They made their choice. She reminded herself.

From somewhere behind her, Shika heard Jack laugh maniacally as she tore yet another freelancer's body apart with her biotics. She certainly wasn't thinking the same thing that Shika was. The screams of the people dying faded from her ears and there was silence. Shika dared to stand, ready to fire if there was anyone left but no one was in sight.

"Shika, Jack, let's go." Shepard walked past her and into an open area. He grabbed the medi-gel out of

one of the containers on the many shelves and then proceeded up the stairs. Jack shrugged and followed him, Shika taking the rear. Down the hall at the top of the stairs, there was a man trying to cut open the door that had yet to notice them.

Jack used Pull to get him away from the door and Shika gunned him down. Shepard strode up to the door and it slid open. The three of them walked into the room, guns at the ready. When they saw that there was no one up there, save the person they had come for, they lowered their weapons.

"Archangel?" Shepard demanded. The Turian held up a finger, telling them whatever they wanted could wait a second. He lined up a shot and fired at the one remaining freelancer. The shot went straight through the man's throat and he fell to the ground, making gurgling noises as he died. Then he pushed himself up and walked towards them, taking off his helmet and setting it beside him as he sat down. Shika watched him closely, examining him. His skin was darker than the Turian he saw before. However, she decided, that could also be a result of the contrast provided by the markings on his mandibles and under his eyes. Over his left eye was a glowing orange visor.

"Shepard. I thought you were dead." He said. It was obvious he and Shepard knew each other well.

"Garrus!" Shepard stepped forward, arms wide as if intent on hugging the Turian but then remembered his professionalism and lowered his arms. "What are you doing here?"

"Just keeping my skill sharp. A little target practice." 'Garrus' replied.

"You okay?" Shepard asked, concern laced into his tone.

"Been better but its sure good to see a friendly face. Killing mercs is hard, especially on my own."

Garrus kept his head bowed but Shika could tell that he'd been through the pits and back.

"What are you doing out here on Omega?" Shepard glanced around as if expecting another attack.

"I got fed up with all the bureaucratic crap on the Citadel. Figured I could do more good on my own. At least it's not hard to find criminals here. All I have to do is point my gun and shoot." Shika shifted anxiously on her feet, wondering why the mercs hadn't launched a second attack.

"How'd you manage to piss off every major merc organization in the Terminus?" Shepard seemed anxious as well but that was deeply hidden by concern towards his friend.

"It wasn't easy. I really had to work at it. I can't believe they teamed up to fight me. They must really hate me." Garrus replied.

"Well," Shepard shrugged, "We got here. But I doubt getting out will be as easy."

Garrus got off the block, standing in front of the team, "No, it won't." Garrus got off the block, standing in front of the team, "That bridge saved my life… funneling all those witless idiots into scope."

He gestured to a door behind him, "But it works both ways." He points in the same direction he was facing, as if to make sure they knew exactly what was being talked about. "We'll be slaughtered if we try to get out that way."

Shika took an annoyed step forward, "So what, were going to sit here and wait for the damned mercs to take us out?"

Garrus seemed to smile at her, "It's not all that bad." He began to pace, "This place has held them off so far, and with the three of you…" Shepard began to follow him, Jack and Shika did as well. "I suggest we hold this position, wait for a crack in their defenses, and take our chances." He stood near the window overlooking the bridge, Shepard stood next to him. "It's not a perfect plan, but it's a plan." He looked over at Shepard.

"How'd you let yourself get into this position?" Shepard asked him.

"My feelings got in the way of my better judgment." He cocked his gun, "It's a long story. I'll make you a deal. You get me out of here alive, and I'll tell you the whole damn thing."

Shika sighed, "Sorry to interrupt, but there'll be time for catching up later, but right now we need to get ready for the pretty obvious merc threat. All this chit chat is wasting time."

Garrus looked over at her then back to his old Commander, "She's right. Let's see what they're up to." He walked closer to the window, Shepard following him again. Shika watched them, staying behind with Jack. _If I didn't know any better, I'd say that the Commander follows this guy like a puppy._

Archangel brought up his sniper rifle to look through its scope, examining the mercs. "Hmm… looks like their infiltration team failed." He passed the gun to Shepard, "Take a look. Scouts. Eclipse I think."

Shepard took the same stance as the Turian had before giving him the gun, he looked through it for a moment before bringing it back down, but not before taking one out with a headshot. "More than just scouts. One less now though." He returned the gun to his friend.

"Indeed." Came Garrus' reply, "We'd better get ready." He took a few steps back, "I'll stay up here. I can do more damage from this vantage point. You… you can do what you do best." Shepard nodded, "Just like old times, Shepard."

Shepard gave a signal to the two girls, telling them to take position. Jack's Biotics fired up, "Finally, some action! All this talk was getting me bored!" She ran into cover, Shika rolled her eyes and took cover by the window, as did Shepard.

The deployed LOKi Mechs continued to press forward. Jack lifted a few before slamming them into the ground, unless Shepard got to them with his sniper first. Shika managed to get a few headshots in with her heavy pistol. Soon the LOKi Mechs were replaced with Eclipse members and soon even they were down.

From somewhere behind her, Shika heard "Heads up. They're deploying snipers." from Garrus.

She pulled out her M-29 Incisor and got a few of the troopers up above the main door. Another wave of mercs came over the barrier. Shepard easily took care of some with his own sniper. Jack tore many apart herself. Shika noticed a single sniper aiming its weapon at Garrus' head and took it out before it had the chance. The Turian glanced at her and nodded his thanks before returning his attention back to the incoming Mercs.

Garrus took out one of the last few mercs with a single shot. Jaroth watched as his men fell to the ground, dead. Shika could see him saying something silently, almost under his breath before reaching up to his comm. piece. "Alright. Let's see how you deal with this, Archangel!" Garrus stood from cover and aimed at whatever was to come. Shika watched as the cargo claw pulled the heavy mech they had hacked earlier was pulled over the barrier. Shika grinned as Garrus called out, "Damn it. They're sending out the heavy mechs."

Shepard smiled, "That problem should take care of itself." By now, he was down the stairs and taking out mercs getting too close to the staircase. They watched as the mech began to take out the mercs surrounding him, taking out the few strays it missed. Shika took the time to see if she could find some more stray heat clips. She was running low.

Coming back to cover, she noticed Jaroth had begun to press forward, and had destroyed the mech. She aimed her Incisor at his head and took down his shields in a few shots. Shepard took down his armor with Incinerate, and Garrus finished him off with a single shot to the head. He scanned the area for any more mercs, "Looks like that's all of them. Come find me before they regroup."

Shepard, Jack, and Shika came back to Garrus. Shika was slightly surprised by how far she had drifted from the team during battle. Garrus smiled, "You're kicking ass out there Shepard. They barely touched me." A pleased look consumed his features, "And we took out Jaroth in the process. I've been hunting that bastard for months."

Shepard stared questioningly at him, "Why were you after him?"

"He's been shipping tainted Eezo all over Citadel space. Half the goods I seized back at C-sec came from his team here on Omega. I took out a big shipment a while back and took out his top lieutenant in the process." He rolled his shoulders, "Not surprised he decided to work with the other mercs after that."

Shepard nodded, "We still got Blue Suns and Blood Pack left. Think we can make a break for it?"

He thought about it for a moment, "Maybe, let's see what they're up to." He turned to look over the bridge, "They've reinforced the other side…" his voice trailed off, as if irritated, "heavily. But they're not coming over the bridge just yet… What are they waiting for?"

Not seconds after that was said, a mechanical alarm sound came from below. Shika's eyes widened as she looked towards the noise, "What in pit was that?"

Garrus brought up his Omni-tool, "Damn it. They've beached the lower level." He sighed, "Well they had to use their brains eventually. You'd better get down there, Shepard. I'll keep the bridge clear."

Shepard motioned to his team, "Let's split up two and two – Keep one of my team here."

"You sure?" He asked, "Who knows what you'll find down there."

Shepard thought for a moment, "Hide, stay with Garrus. Keep him alive."

Shika nodded, "You can count on me."

Garrus took a moment before responding, "Interesting choice, but I'll take all the help I can get."

"Oh? How is it interesting?" Shika retorted, brow raised.

Shepard groaned, "Hide, later. Jack, Let's go."

Garrus turned his attention from Shika, "Go down a level – the basement door is on the west side of the main room, behind the stairs. I'll radio directions if you need help… but you've got to get down there quickly."

Shepard nodded before heading back out the door Shika killed the freelancer at. Shika watched as he left down the staircase then turned to the unfamiliar Turian, "So now what, Mr. Vakarian?"

"Just Garrus, Hide." He replied, "Just watch the bridge, shoot any Mercs that decide to jump over that barrier. Think you can handle that, Kid?"

She nodded, taking out her Incisor again, "Yes, I think I can, Garrus. And call me Shika."

"Alright then, Shika." He said, looking over the bridge and taking out a remaining Eclipse. Shika took one out after that, closely following his dead friend. "How old are you anyways? Shepard accepting children onto her tem now?" He asked, meaning no offence to his previously dead commander.

He could see an amused grin appear on her face, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She replied smugly, getting in another headshot.

"Uh huh," He agreed sarcasticly, "seriously. 15? 16 at most?" He asked again, taking out his own merc.

"Guess again."

"14."

She closed her eyes and shook her head, "So far off. I'll tell you later."

"Fine." He said, "But I'm not giving up. I just want you to know I am not surrendering."

"I never said you were." She replied.

Shika was sure he rolled his eyes before he brought up his hand and tapped his communication system, "Get to the console and close that shutter before they can get through!"

Shika watched the bridge as Garrus did his thing with the communication device. She took out the occasional Eclipse merc. Garrus crouched next to her watching his sensors for any incoming enemies. Shika watched the sealed doors for a moment before she saw a glowing blue light come from the top of the door's seam. She nudged Garrus and pointed to the door.

"Shit." He accessed his communication system again, "Get back here, Shepard. They're coming in through the doors."

Shika continued to watch the door as it opened. A Krogan she recognized as Garm came through the door. He pointed angrily towards the bridge, "Raaah! Rip them to shreds!" A Vorcha was shot down from next to Garm, Shika looked to Garrus to see him removing the empty heat clip from his rifle. She grinned. He cocked his gun again and aimed it at Garm. The Krogan Blood Pack leader glared up at him, "Watch my back. I'll deal with Archangel!" A still living Vorcha looked at his leader before he was shot down by a returning Shepard.

"I'll focus my shots on Garm." Shika announced to Garrus, but he shook his head. "And why not?"

"Garm's mine." He replied simply.

"Fine. You get yourself killed though and it's not my fault." She replied, shooting one of the lesser men in the head, effectively taking down his shields.

"Well aren't you a little ball of sunshine." He replies, looking at her while removing his heat clip after taking down Garm's barrier.

"I try." She says grinning, and killing the lower Krogan. She noticed Shepard taking a few good shots in at the Blood Pack leader himself, damaging his armor. She focuses on the warriors coming up the staircase, taking them down one by one. Jack is helping her, taking out the ones out of gunshot. She nods her thanks to her friend.

Shika began to walk towards the stairs, Garm's at the top of them. She immediately goes into cover behind the doorway. Garrus sees the Krogan, "Garm's got me pinned down."

Shika hadn't noticed that Shepard had come up behind Garm and put the final shot in his head. Shika and Jack took out the last few mercs and Varren. Once all were gone, Garrus made one final look around the bridge, "They've stopped. Come find me." He looked at the team, "Thanks Shepard, they barely got through to me." That pleased tone came back, "And we took out Garm and his blood pack. Today just keeps getting better and better. He was one tough son of a bitch."

"Only the Blue suns are left. I say we take our chances and fight our way out." Shepard proposed.

"I think you're right." Garrus agreed, "Tarak's got the toughest group but nothing we haven't faced before. Besides, he won't be expecting us to meet him head o-"

"Garrus!" Shika yelled, catching the gunship in the corner of her eye. Her head was already turned towards the ship. A missile launched from it directly at him. He attempted to duck, but was unable to in time, and the missile collided with his face. "Shit!" Shika said, moving him behind cover before heading to the bridge. His eyes trailed her weakly as she left, and the sound of gunshots filled his ears.

XXXXXXX

Shika could already feel her gears start to shift. Her skin hardening as it split into plates and changed into a metallic grey color. As she transformed, she could tell she was growing in height, and tried to keep her head low. She paused for a moment, she could explosions and gunshots coming from up above that were showing no sign of ceasing any time soon. She quickly changed into the red cab she had scanned earlier.

Shika started up her engine and flew through the window they had been shooting out of not moments before. She landed next to Garrus and opened up the hatch. "Get in!" She yelled through her speakers. Shepard and Jack turned around and shot a few final shots at the incoming mercs, taking them down before getting in, grabbing Garrus in the process. They put him in the back laying down while they got in the front. Jack looked around, noticing Shika wasn't there and the cab was flying away, but not before taking down the gunship with her cannon. "Wait! What about 'Breaker?"

Shika opened a miniature hologram of herself on the dash board. "Right here." She says, before looking over at Garrus who's barely holding on to consciousness, "How is he doing?"

Shepard looked back at Garrus, who was having trouble breathing without pain due to the damage to his face, "We need to get him to the Normandy." Shika nods before the hologram disappears, and Garrus drifts off into the darkness of sleep.

XXXXXX

Shika absentmindedly watched the Salarian perform tests on the sample of metal from her outer armor she had supplied to him. Her arms were rested crossed on the edge of the table and her chin rested on her arms. Mordin was saying all kinds of things, but most of it went over her head. She was thinking more about her guitar. She loved to play, but she could never bring it with her. She had tried calling her dad, but he wasn't answering.

She continued to watch Mordin, before her mind wandered back to the guitar. She wondered, if he was a scientist, would he have any samples of wood? "Mordin?"

"Yes?"

XXXXXX

Shepard stood in the comm. room with Jacob, who had called him in to update him on the Turian's condition. Jacob looked to him as he walked in and leaned against the table surrounding the large hologram, "Commander, we've done what we could for Garrus, but he took a bad hit." His face took on a fairly apologetic expression, "The docs corrected with surgical procedures and cybernetics. Best we can tell he'll have full functionality, but…" He trailed off as Garrus came in.

The damaged Turian nodded at Shepard. His once whole suit now has a gaping hole. His face was greatly damaged, and a patch covered most of it, keeping the newly repaired wound from falling apart. "Shepard."

Jacob smiled, "Tough son of a bitch. Didn't think he would be up yet."

"Nobody would give me a mirror, how bad is it?" The Turian sniper asked.

Shepard grinned, "Hell, Garrus, you were always ugly. Slap some face paint on there and no one will even notice."

Garrus laughed before wincing from the pain caused by his healing wounds "Ah. Don't make me laugh, damn it. My face is barely holding together as it is." Then on a lighter note. "Some women find facial scars attractive. Mind you, most of those women are Krogan…" He looks to Jacob as he salutes his Commander before leaving the comm. room. "Frankly, I'm more worried about you." He says, switching the subject, "Cerberus, Shepard? You remember those sick experiments they were doing?"

The commander sighed, "Right now, they're a necessary evil. I need their resources to get this done."

"I'm fit for duty whenever you need me Shepard. I'll settle in and see what I can do with the forward batteries." The Turian turns to leave, then stops and looks back at his commander, "And one more thing, where is Shika?"

"She should be with Mordin last time I checked."

Garrus nodded. "Alright." He left the room and turned to the entrance to the tech lab. He stopped at the door, hearing a musical tone coming from it. He took a step forward and the doors opened. He leaned on the doorway. Shika hadn't been startled by his entrance. She wasn't even looking towards the door. Her attention was focused on a wooden instrument on her lap. Six metal strings ran over the front of it and she placed her fingers in four different patterns, all repeating one another at different paces. A pleased smile was stretched across her face as she played. Mordin watched her, his arms crossed and curiosity on his face. The girl opened her mouth as if to say something, but instead her voice rang out as she sang to the music she created.

_Another head hangs lowly child is slowly taken,  
And the violence causes silence who are we mistaken,  
But you see, it's not me, it's not my, family  
In your head, in your head, they are fighting,_

_With their tanks and their bombs  
And their bombs, and their guns,  
In your head, in your head,  
They are crying._

_In your head, in your head,  
Zombie, Zombie, Zombie  
eh-eh_

_What's in your head, in your head,  
Zombie, Zombie, Zombie,  
eh-eh-eh-oh._

She stopped singing for a moment, and the pace of her fingers on the strings sped up slightly, only to slow as she began to sing again. Shepard walked over to stand next to Garrus.

_Another, Mother's breaking,  
Heart is taking, over.  
If the violence causes silence  
We must be mistaken._

_It's the same old theme,  
Since nineteen-sixteen  
In your head, In your head,  
They're still fighting!_

_With their tanks, and their bombs,  
And their bombs and their guns,  
They are dying!_

_In your head, In your head,  
Zombie, Zombie, Zombie  
Eh-Eh_

_What's in your head, in your head,  
Zombie, Zombie, Zombie  
Eh-eh-eh oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh  
Ehh-ohhh, Yah-yaaah.._

She continued to play for a few more seconds before stopping the sounds from the instrument all together. Garrus clapped a few times, startling her. She nearly dropped her instrument, but a strap around her neck caught it as she brought her hand to her head, "Primus you startled me… Hello Commander. Garrus."

Shepard nodded before turning around and heading to the Armory door. Garrus watched him leave before turning his attention to Shika. "I wanted to thank you for saving my life."

She sighed and took off the instrument, leaning it up against her chair before standing up, "It was really no big deal… I did what I thought I needed to do." She replied, "But you're welcome all the same." The Turian noticed Mordin picking up the instrument.

He nodded, "What is that thing you were playing?" He asked, still leaning on the doorway.

"Thing? You mean my guitar?" She paused, trying to think of a way to explain it to him. "It's a human instrument. I asked Mordin to let me make it with some wood samples he had laying around."

The Salarian was looking at the instrument, examining it, occasionally plucking a string, "A very interesting process. Jumped on the chance to see it again."

Garrus seemed confused, "See it again? You've made two of these things?"

Shika smiled and shook her head, "No, I made something else. I'll show it to you later."

He paused before nodding, "Alright. Now you said before you'd tell me how old you really were?"

Her smile warped into a grin, "369." She answered without thinking.

Garrus stared at her, "What?"

"Told you."


	6. Chapter 6: Explanations

Hello, been a while. A warning, as this Author's note is fairly long. Feel free to skip to the story if you wish.

To start off with, I have honestly been considering shutting this story down, but seeing how many people have begun to actually like it, I had decided to at least keep it up, but it's been hard for me to get into the mood to write. That's mainly because I don't have the drive and there have been a lot of overly stressful things going on in my life and I simply haven't had the energy. Even so, this remains my most popular story, so it would kill me to take it down.

To answer some of your reviews on this story though, to curious viewer, I should probably put an explanation of Shika on my profile. However, considering she's very Mary Sue-ish when looking how I originally designed her, I'm tempted to change her entire character design. As for Garrus' survival, up until this point I have been trying to stick to the main storyline as much as possible, and will still loosely be doing so. In the original Mass Effect 2 Garrus mission, at the end of the mission he had been hit in the face with the missile. My guess to his survival, based on what I have read about Turian anatomy, is that they have what appears to be an exoskeleton. This makes it easier for them to survive things that would normally tear easily through the flesh of humans. His armor also caught most of the blast, his face just got some of what came after that. There are his shields, while not able to completely able to protect him from the missile it lessened to blow. Now this could be incorrect, but that is what I've read.

Doctor Chakwas was also able to get to him in time, allowing her to put him on life support long enough for her to repair the damage done to his face. That was in the original script as well.

To Italian Yakuza, I haven't been doing a good job of showing it, obviously, but the entire crew is curious and a bit perturbed by her abilities, and this is going to be greatly addressed in this and likely the next chapter.

Off of that, I would really appreciate it if you all would check out my profile and look at my poll. With only 6 people voting so far I'm still not sure what I should do.

Now on to the story, once again, I'm sorry to have kept you all waiting for so long. I'm going to apologize in advance for the quality of this chapter. I'm still having trouble writing. However I plan to update more frequently as well as increase the quality of each chapter. I'm beginning to have an idea of where I want to take this story.

After a brief and highly censored conversation with Garrus about her origins, Sheppard ordered the Cybertronian girl to go visit Tali on Deck 4. He then left to direct Joker to their next destination, Selvos where he planned to have Shika explain _everything_. He was tired of waiting.

She nodded, her holographic brown hair falling into her face, before turning and leaving the Lab. She left her guitar behind, allowing Mordin to run his various tests on the object.

Heading towards the elevator, she opened up a Comm with her father, Ironhide. He picked up soon after she was safely inside the moving box. ::Sparkling!:: His voice was oddly excited compared to its usual tone.

She almost laughed, ::What is it? Got a new gun?:: She asked.

::No, it's better than that.:: He responded, chuckling a bit. Better than a gun? ::Sentinel Prime is here!::

::Dad I don't know who that is.:: Silence rang over the Comm line. ::And I really don't have time to have you explain it to me. I just wanted to let you know my mission was successful and I'm fine.::

::Well that's good.:: He grunted, not sounding all to surprised or worried, ::Didn't expect anything less from you Sweetspark.::

She smiled, sending her appreciative emotion to him over the comm, ::Thanks Dad. I have to go now, talk to you in a little bit.::

The doors to the elevator opened as she closed off the communication line. She wondered briefly who Sentinel Prime was, but if he was a Prime then she had nothing to worry about for the time being, right? And if something did go wrong she knew Ironhide, Prime or Ratchet would contact her as soon as they could.

Taking a left, she walked into the large engineering room. Tali, hearing her footsteps quickly turned around to look at her. Her posture made her seem surprised by her visit. "Oh!" Her voice sounded somewhat… robotic, filtered through her helmet, something the Cybertronian girl hadn't taken notice of before. "Greetings, Shikara. I did not expect to see you down here so soon."

Shika gave her a soft smile, "Commander Shepard had me come down here. He said there was something you wanted to talk to me about?"

She nodded, "Yes, I was curious about how you managed to get Garrus here. Well, I know how, but I was simply curious about your advancements in technology. You see, I was thinking that maybe you'd be able to help us improve our engines, because it seems that your technology differs from ours. It may be beneficial to our mission."

"Oh." A slight smile fell onto the girl's lips, "Well it's kind of complicated to explain, really." She moved a hand up to rub at the back of her head, "I'm actually pretty young for my species, and it's a bit of a puzzle to me as to how we work. Though we are robots we are also living beings." A sigh came from her lips before she tried to smile again, "You'd have better luck talking to Ratchet or Optimus Prime, or my dad. You'd be able to get more information from them than me, mechanics never was my strong suit."

Hearing an amused laugh from behind the other's visor soon had the girl smiling herself. "That's fine." She replied, looking over at the engine, "We should be fine for right now, but if you do manage to figure out something that would help us out feel free to let me know." The Quarian shifted on her feet, and Shika could hear the two materials rub against eachother under the weight. "I was also wondering about how you got Garrus and the entire squad back here." She mused, "It was truly an impressive feat, but it leaves a lot open to question." It was her turn to tile her head, "Such as, once you got here, where did the vehicle go?"

"Well there's a lot I can't tell you without Prime's permission, purely for security reasons. So I can't go into much detail, however, what I can tell you, is that because we aren't organic life forms we are able to manipulate our forms. The smaller and younger members of our species can take on different organic forms, while the larger and older ones can take on vehicular forms. I'm at a bit of a transitional age. The matter condenser our medic, Ratchet, gave me still works without me having to use too much of my own energy to power it. Therefore I'm able to take on smaller forms as well as the larger forms, but the vehicle I choose has to be pretty small."

Tali listened silently before nodding, "I think most of that makes sense. I do have a few more questions but they can wait for now." She decided, turning back to her station, "I think that you should go explore the rest of the ship, just don't go to the top floor, that's Shepard's Quarters." She said.

With a nod, the girl turned to leave. She'd explore the ship a little bit later. Right now she was eager to get the remaining of her explanations out of the way. This repetition was getting pretty annoying and she was tempted to just record herself.

She made her way back to the elevator and went back up to where she remembered seeing the Galaxy map, and headed to meet up with Joker. She was finding she enjoyed the pilot's company and sense of humor. She wasn't too surprised to see Shepard there as well. She greeted the two men with a light smile before standing next to Joker, opposite of the commander. "How close are we to Selvos?" She asked, glancing down at him.

"We should be there within the next ten to twenty minutes." He said, looking at the panel in front of him before glancing over to his commander, "I'm guessing you want the entire crew to go with you two?" He assumed, "Want me to tell everyone to get ready?"

She would have had to of been blind not to notice the questioning look the organic male gave her. She sighed and rubbed the back of her head, "When it comes to my species origin and history I have little to hide. It's only when it comes to our tech that I have trouble. You might be my commander right now but I'm still under oath not to allow organics to get a hold of our weaponry. Unless Prime says something different I can't reveal any of that. Simply for your own safety."

"I might not be able to let that be, Hide." She could hear the slight growl in his voice as he spoke.

"I get that." She said, "Things are different now as opposed to when I made the oath. I might be able to convince Prime to let me give you some information, but he's trying to be really careful about giving our tech to organics. He's afraid that with our tech you'll wipe each other out. At least that's how I understand it."

Shepard gave a light sigh before he nodded. "Joker, tell the crew that we're landing soon and to get ready. I'm going to talk with Hide for a moment."

He nodded and Shika felt her wrist being pulled. She followed the Commander around the corner into another room before he stopped and turned to look at her, "Hide I'm going to make it clear right now that I don't trust you and the only reason I didn't show you the airlock when you first arrived is because I don't like the idea of tossing innocent people out into space. Innocent until proven guilty and all that." His eyes narrowed sharply, "But you are dangerous. To my crew, to my ship, and most importantly to the mission and you need to know that if I don't see that you aren't going to cause trouble then I will have to dispose of you. You helped save Garrus and for that I thank you but if you don't give me the answers I want when we land, I'm leaving you on Selvos."

It was obvious he wasn't bluffing, and Shika's face took on a more serious look opposed to its usual, open, friendly demeanor. "I understand why you don't trust me probably as well as anyone else on this ship. I appeared out of nowhere in the middle of space onto you ship, I'm something you've never encountered before and I could end up being something incredibly volatile."

"However I've been raised to speak my words as my bond. And I hope my actions within the next few hours prove that to you."

His brown eyes flickered over her vibrant blue ones as he pressed his lips into a fine line. Many thoughts ran through his mind at her words, but she had risked herself for Garrus. "Alright." He stated finally, his features softening, "But I'm holding you to that."

"I wouldn't expect anything different."

Shepard made the group move a fair distance from the Normandy. With its hull no longer concealed Shika found herself impressed by the advancements that had been made in the past hundred or so years.

The girl found herself a bit perturbed by the silence they all held as they followed Shepard. Mordin, Garrus, Miranda, Tali, Jack… None of them spoke a word. She guessed they were all simply thinking, but she couldn't settle the anxiousness that resided inside her. She took a deep breath, pushing air through her vents to calm down, when Shepard stopped, and moved to look at her.

She'd already allowed the hologram to fall, revealing her normal robotic form. The sleek metal accented with the dull red paint from her alternate form. The moment her hologram fell, the matter condenser turned itself off and metal slid and clanged against itself as her body grew several feet in size. As she blinked down at them with round blue optics, she spoke, breaking the silence for the first time in several minutes. "My name is Soundbreaker, my home planet, Cybertron, has been destroyed in a vicious civil war, and I'm the only offspring of my species to have survived the first hundred years of its life in the past millennia." As the gears and wired settled, she blinked. "A pleasure."


	7. Chapter 7: Team

Awe, interest, and vague irritation quickly replaced the blank stares she was offered. Tali and Legion were the only two people she was unable to read. Tali, well she'd need to see the other's face to judge expression, and as for Legion, he, or it, she'd still had yet to figure that out, lacked much in the detail of facial plates, though he did seem fairly impartial to the present situation.

She knew it shouldn't be surprised, but it was always interesting to see how different people looked from such a drastically different perspective. How those who'd once been taller than her were now so much shorter. She knew why the change was there, but it was still fun for her. Nevertheless, she crouched down. She was pretty short, even for a femme her age, but they wouldn't know that.

Mordin was the first to speak, "Interesting. Species, you say, though the word implies organic elements. Also implies a need for reproduction habits. If not much trouble, I'd like to speak with you again in the near future. Have many questions, but, not much data to answer such inquiries." He hummed curiously as he stepped forward, examining the girl closer, "A living non organic species. Truly fascinating. Can you be overridden?"

She snorted in amusement, "Of course, but that all depends on the will of the individual. It's similar to the concept of hypnosis. In most cases unless we allow it, it won't happen."

A slight nod was the only answer she was given.

It wasn't much longer before Miranda popped up, "All of this is going to have to be reported to the Illusive Man." She declared, turning her head to Shepard, "We don't know what this thing is, or is capable of. It's probably best to detain and-"

"Oh, _hell_ no, Cheerleader." Jack spat, stepping in, and moving to stand in front of the brunette. "Detain. Bull shit, you mean capture and experiment on until she's a pile of scrap metal." She turned to look at Mordin, "You better not do any crap to her either."

The Salarian held his hands up defensively, "No no. Of course not. Such study done by Cerberus, completely unethical. Wouldn't dream. Tests and studies simply done to gain basic data such as vital signs. Nothing life threatening." He assured. "It is important to know how to care for all members of the Normandy. I will be requesting most more…" He breathed in sharply, "invasive information be given to me through already collected data."

Jack glared at the Salarian, but didn't say anything more to him. When she noticed Miranda begin to speak again she stepped closer to her, shoving a finger to the woman's chest, "Shut up. You're not turning her into some toy you can poke and prod at. I'll fucking kill you if you try." She growled. She knew what it was like to be tested. Treated like some sort of freak and it wasn't something she wished upon anyone.

Shepard cut in there, "Miranda, Jack, you both have a point. He said, before glaring at Miranda at a lesser intensity than the bald woman. "However, we're not giving her over to Cerberus. That's final."

A scoff came from the woman, "Right. When it kills all of you, let me know. I'll be happy to laugh at your funerals."

Jack allowed her biotics to flare, the blue energy spanning from her hands to her shoulders before Shepard quickly turned his attention to her, "Jack. Enough." He ordered firmly.

The girl's eyes flickered from him, then to Miranda before she gave a resentful grunt, "Fine. She tries anything though and I will kill her, I promise you that." She killed the release of her biotic power and glared at her, "And she's gotta name, Cheerleader. Use it."

With a sigh he let the tension between the two women come to a rest. Hide had won the favor of Jack, at least, and that wasn't an easy task based off the woman's personality. It was just a matter of getting more information from the Cybertronian female now. He'd have to of been blind not to notice the Garrus' mandibles twitching in irritation at the little exchange. He figured the Turian probably sided with Jack on this one. Hide had helped save his life, after all. He already seemed pretty fond of the girl.

He let his eyes glance over the rest of his team, "Anyone else got something to say?" He asked.

"We have some curiosities, Shepard-Commander."

Shika's optics flickered to the Geth when it spoke up. She'd decided to stay quiet as Jack defended her, not wanting to 'take sides' and anger either. The idea of being an experiment didn't exactly please her very much, though. "I told the commander earlier that so long as it doesn't go against what I've been told to keep quiet about, I'll answer any question you have." She answered.

Leigon 'blinked' at her, raising one of his ridges. _Okay. _Shika decided, _So maybe he's not completely lacking in the area of facial expression._

With a slight nod, the Geth spoke again, "We recall it being mentioned before that you are a species. Your mechanical nature leads us to believe that you were created, however the statement of species implies differently. If you were not created such as the Quarians created the geth, how have you come into being? We realize that this question has already been mentioned by the Salarian."

Shika frowned lightly. She didn't entirely understand the concept herself. This was something she'd yet to learn from Ratchet. "I don't have much of an answer for you." She admitted. "When it comes to my species physiology I don't really know all that much. I was only just recently brought back together with my kind. I spent most of my younger years with humans." She explained, "My dad's the weapon's specialist. He's focused most of my education there since he got me back, especially considering my kind's in the middle of a civil war."

Her optics flickered to Mordin and Legion. "I'll talk to our Medic and have him send me the necessary data."

"We are content with this response."

She nodded before she looked to Shepard. "Before anything else is asked I think I should answer some of your earlier questions. I think that they may cover most of the questions you have now."

He nodded to her, "Then talk, Hide."

Air hissed from her vents as she looked down at the collection of beings below her. "The inhabitants of Cybertron have been fighting the same war for tens of thousands of years." She started.

Over the next few hours, she told the crew about how Cybertron had been destroyed in the crossfire of the war. How those who couldn't fight or defend themselves were quickly killed by the Decepticons if they chose not to join their side. She told them about the Allspark and how it is one of the things that give, or, gave life to the Cybertronians and how all but a few slivers now existed. She spoke of Earth's involvement and how it was actually the possible destruction of Earth's Sun that started the Civil war. She spoke of how little there was of her kind left on both sides, and how those that were left were mostly only those who had been there from the beginning.

She told them everything she knew.

And then she waited.

There was a fairly long silence that came after she'd finished speaking. It was Zaeed who broke it. "So yer tellin' us that your kind lives for millennia, and you've all just been killin' each other off cuz' a group of ya tried to wipe out humanity? Seems kinda counterproductive t' me."

"When the Fallen came to Earth to harvest your sun, your kind had yet to build the pyramids." She pointed out, "It had been agreed by the Council that the only suns of solar systems that had no chance of life forming on it would be harvested. The Fallen went against that, and nearly wiped out not only humans, but every single species on your entire planet. Plant, animal, bacteria. He would have forced countless species into extinction."

She looked at the mercenary, "When asked to back down, he turned against his planet and refused. He took many others with him and ended up starting the entire war. In the process my planet was destroyed, as well as wiping out nearly all of my kind. As far as I'm aware, there are only about twenty Autobots that still remain living. I don't know how many Decepticons are left."

"But I don't see why the 'ell any av yah would even care as to whether or not 'umans lived 'r died."

"Living nearly a thousand years myself I think I can understand." Samara said, interrupting, "Many of those I encounter now are but mere children to me in comparison to what I have seen and lived through. However it appears that as her kind is not organic in nature, their ability to survive spans many millennia longer than what would be usually capable of what we would see as a species. Therefore they have seen civilizations on other planets grow and fall, and decided that they would not interfere, either malevolently or beneficially, and allow the species to develop on its own. While I see individuals as Children, her kind can look at an entire planet's civilization and call it a child in comparison to themselves. I would think that there is a bit of a moral discomfort in killing children, for any species."

A mother. Samara was a mother and it was painfully obvious to the Cybertronian girl. She offered a slight nod at the explanation, "In a basic sense, that's correct. The Council didn't want to alter the development of a civilization, and would let them live through their wars and treaties as they matured and evolved. However they put someone in charge that wasn't too keen on following that rule. He ended up assassinating the council and turning most of the planet to his side." She frowned, "The Autobots ended up as more of a slight resistance than an actual army."

"Yet there was enough of a resistance for your planet to be destroyed in the crossfire?" Garrus.

She nodded.

Shepard spoke up now, "Hide, how much of a threat does the Decepticon group still pose?"

"If they're still around, they're probably looking for Energon deposits. Crystals that have the unique ability to collect and hold a star's energy. The Allspark was one of the only devices that held life bringing amounts of that energy. I don't know what it was made of, just that the Matrix of Leadership was made of the same thing."

Shepard nodded lightly.

A bit of a grin came from Jack as she stepped forward, hands held behind her back as she moved towards her friend. "So, you were talking about big ass cannons on the ship?" She hinted.

Shika gave a chuckle, "Yeah yeah." She answered, already shifting the plates on her arm. It was a somewhat smaller model, similar to that of Bumblebee's, but she relied mostly on her agility anyways. And what it didn't make up for in size, it made up for in power. Ironhide and made sure of that. "Not as big as they could be." She noted, looking at her now transformed arm.

"What kind of attack power does that thing have?" Jacob asked, moving to step beside the violence prone biotic. "Might be useful on a mission if we know what we have and what it can do."

She glanced over at Shepard. "I'll show 'im if it's okay with you." She said, directing the choice to the Commander. He nodded and she couldn't help but grin as the metal spun and she allowed the Energon to swell in the cannon. "M'Kay then." She said, the blue light growing inside her arm.

Aiming the weapon a safe distance from the group, she released, and the collected energy hit the ground and created a fairly large dust cloud that revealed an equal sized crater once the dirt had settled. Her arm snapped back slightly from the recoil, but she quickly recovered and brought her arm to her side, changing it back. "That's a fourth of its full power." She said, watching the human as he went over to check the size of the crater she'd made. She didn't feel like using it at full power at the moment. Took too long to charge for her liking.

She looked over those who hadn't said anything yet. Kasumi, Tali, Thane, and Grunt. She'd noticed the irritable look that Grunt had given her when she'd revealed her true form. The two of them were already on the wrong foot. Thane and Kasumi seemed to be a more of the silent type anyways, though Kasumi would speak up if she had something to say. Tali's silence, however, surprised her. The Quarian had seemed rather talkative before, but now it seemed as though she had nothing to say at all.

She must have noticed the look on Shika's faceplates because she heard a chuckle from the girl, "I'm just thinking, Shika. It's nothing to worry about there's just a lot you've told us that I'm having some trouble making sense of. Much of it differs from what many now see as fact. Even Legion has a multitude off programs in him so that he can function independently from the rest of the Geth, however you seem to be your own individual, not many combined together to make one. It's truly fascinating that one would immediately assume to be a simple robot is actually a sentient species. It makes me wonder how little we actually know."

A hiss came from Shika's vents as she nodded, then decided to activate her condenser and shrunk back down to her smaller size and reactivated the hologram. She let her still glowing blue eyes flicker to the Salarian before he had the chance to ask, "Matter condenser. I'm still small enough for it to shrink me to this size." She explained.

Mordin nodded as she gave a grin.

Tali decided to ask something, "Is that the only appearance you can take?" She asked, talking about the hologram.

Shika shook her head. "No. But this is what I've become the most accustomed to. That and the hologram is semi-solid, and I don't feel like redesigning an entire new hologram. This does for now." She hoped that she'd said enough for Shepard to trust her. Miranda… Well she didn't really like her anyways. Thane, she'd have to talk to him alone later. She was curious about him. Grunt… she'd have to try something sometime soon to figure out if she had any chance of getting him to at least accept her. She'd have to work at that.

Shepard turned to his team as Jacob rejoined the group, "For now this stays confidential." He ordered, specifically speaking to the two Cerberus members. "I have my reasons, and until I say otherwise, what just happened here stays here." He got a series of affirmative responses, and a somewhat… reluctant one from Miranda. He looked at her, "And that's an order. Now back to the Normandy. Hide, stay here for a moment."

Shika waited, watching as the rest of the team left and she stayed back with her new Commander. He turned to her. "I have to ask, what did you mean by you 'spent your younger years with humans'?" He asked.

She sighed, "It's the only reason I survived. I had only just been born when the war started, and my father put my spark in a sort of… stasis. The spark is actually fairly small and easy to maintain, but it maintains the soul, memories and personality of each Cybertronian. He fused it with a dying human child's body. The energy from my spark kept the human alive, while also brining me out of stasis." She smiled lightly, "I remember everything the human does, we've sort of become one. And while I don't entirely agree with what my Father did…" She looked to the ground, sighing now that her vents had been compressed, and fell into her more human habits. "We're both kinda glad he did."

Shepard looked at the girl silently. It was interesting to him. There would be a part of her that would always be human, she'd never really be able to let go of that. However she was also Cybertronian. A mix of human and machine, which once separated, both would die. While organic elements had been removed, and she was now completely one of her own kind, he could still see the human elements in her.

And he could only guess how difficult that was.

He sighed, "Get back on the ship." He said, a kinder tone to his voice, "And welcome to the team, Shikara."

Whew. That took some time. I'm glad to have another chapter up, though. For those of you who've seen Dark Side of the Moon, remember who Shika's father is. Now remember what happens to him in the film, and you've got yourself a bit of insight on what's coming next. Do feel free to check out my poll. I'd really appreciate it.


End file.
